Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A golf hotel with three wedding suites near Ystrad Mynach

Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa is at Maesycwmmer, near Ystrad Mynach in Caerphilly (CF82 7SN; the venue gives NP12 2RB for sat navs). Its own site describes a resort in hundreds of acres of meadowland with views of the Brecon Beacons, three wedding suites, a four-star hotel, a golf course and a spa, and says it offers exclusive use of the resort with only one celebration a day.

We photographed Cerys and Craig's wedding here on 11 September 2021, and their day is the one in this guide: rings in a white-draped room, confetti on the way out and portraits around the golf course. Our Cardiff guide, Valleys and Brecon Beacons guide and South Wales guide show more weddings nearby, and here we stay with the venue. What we say about the suites and grounds comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the pictures comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa. This wedding was on a September afternoon, so ask the venue how the course and grounds look in other months and which parts golfers are using on your date.

01 / The spaces / From the venue's own description

The Fairway, Barn and Beacons suites

The venue's wedding suites page lists three. The Fairway Suite is the largest, seating up to 300, with its own private entrance, a reception room, a private bar and floor-to-ceiling windows over the fairways. The Barn Suite seats up to 90 and has a private bar the page suggests for drinks receptions. The Beacons Suite seats up to 50, has large picture windows, and the page says guests may see Pen y Fan on a clear day.

The venue's civil ceremony page says the three suites are licensed for wedding ceremonies, civil ceremonies, civil partnerships and blessings, and that outdoor ceremonies are offered as well. It adds that couples must arrange their own registrar. That page still refers to bookings for 2023 and 2024, so ask the venue to confirm the current arrangements, the day and evening numbers for each suite, and which suite your date would use.

02 / September 2021 / Cerys and Craig

Cerys and Craig: sunflowers, a white-draped room and portraits across the golf course

Cerys and Craig married on 11 September 2021. The lead photograph on this page shows them kissing on a cobbled stone bridge on the golf course, Cerys in a lace gown and veil with a bouquet of sunflowers and Craig in a navy suit, with red-leaved shrubs on one side and hydrangeas on the other. A small green sign beside the bridge says that only buggies should use it.

The ceremony pictures show a room hung with white drapes, with white blossom trees and tall windows onto greenery. In the first, Craig, in a tweed waistcoat, a yellow tie and a sunflower buttonhole, slides a ring onto Cerys's finger while a man in the foreground reads from a sheet of paper and guests look on.

Then the two of them kiss in front of the white drapes, guests holding up their phones behind them and confetti already falling.

They walk back through more confetti hand in hand, Cerys laughing with her sunflowers, a woman in a navy dress holding a bouquet of sunflowers at the edge of the picture and guests smiling on both sides.

Their portraits were taken out on the course, with the sun in and out. On a lawn with pink hydrangeas and a red-leaved shrub behind them, Craig looks across at Cerys as they walk hand in hand under a blue sky. In black and white, Cerys holds Craig's face in her hand as they kiss on open grass, with the trees and land soft behind them.

Beneath a broad tree, Craig leans in to kiss Cerys's cheek as she smiles with her sunflowers. And then they leave by golf buggy, Craig at the wheel and Cerys beside him with her skirt spread over the seat, laughing as they look ahead.

The last picture is of the room laid for the meal: round tables with white covers and navy ribbons on the chairs, sunflowers on the tables, white blossom trees, light-up letters spelling cariad, the Welsh word for love, and a tiered cake by the windows. The photograph does not say which of the venue's suites it is, so ask the venue which one your numbers and date would use.

03 / Staying at Bryn Meadows / From the venue's own description

A four-star hotel, a spa and a golf course on site

The venue's wedding suites page says guests can stay at its four-star hotel, with a Bridal Suite that has a choice of a balcony or a private patio, and Junior and Standard rooms with king-size beds and ensuite bathrooms. Its packages page lists complimentary accommodation for the couple on the wedding night and reduced rates for guests, and its wedding pages describe the Fusion Spa, with an indoor pool, steam room, hydro spa and jacuzzi.

The pages we read do not give a total bedroom count for wedding parties, so ask how many of your guests the hotel can sleep, which rooms come with your date and when the bridal suite is free for getting ready. Tell us once you know, so we can plan the morning around where each of you is.

Planning your photographs at Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa

A few things worth asking the venue, and how we would plan around the answers:

1. Choosing the suite: The venue licenses three suites for ceremonies, from 50 to 300 seats. Ask which one your date would use, because the room decides how we place the aisle, where the registrar stands and how much space we have for a confetti walk-out.
2. Ceremony outdoors: The venue says it offers outdoor ceremonies, and the grounds are wide open. Ask how the layout changes if the weather turns, and when you would need to decide, so we can plan both versions with you.
3. On the course: The stone bridge, the lawn and the buggy gave this couple three very different portraits. The venue lists use of the grounds for photography in its packages, so ask which parts of the course are open to you, whether golfers are out at that time and whether a buggy can be arranged.
4. Cloud and sun: This September afternoon moved between grey sky and bright blue, and the pictures held up in both. We check sunset times for your date and agree a rough portrait window with you in advance.
5. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and usually suggest around 15, which take about 20 minutes. Pick a spot close to the suite with a covered fallback, and ask someone who knows everyone to gather people for us.
6. Portrait walk: We normally set aside about 15 minutes for the two of you, with photo and video working together. With this much space, a short walk takes you a long way from the party.

One team for the photographs and the film

With more than 400 weddings behind us as a team, a hotel with several suites and a golf course around it is a layout we can plan for. You deal with one team, one timeline and one list of questions for the venue.

The photo and video team package carries a £120 deposit and a £400 saving over booking photography and videography separately. We are based near Cardiff, and travel across England and Wales is included in standard full-day packages. When the drive is over two hours we always stay in a hotel the night before and cover it.

Questions about a Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa wedding